- Santa Anita Park is suing the California DOJ for seizing its historical horse racing machines
- The California DOJ plans to demolish the betting machines, unless a court orders otherwise
Santa Anita Park has filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Justice (DOJ) after the state law enforcer raided the storied horse racetrack on Saturday and seized 26 controversial betting machines.
In a 52-page complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the Los Angeles Turf Club, the operating entity of the track, claims the state had no legal right to take its Racing on Demand terminals. The betting machines offer parimutuel wagering on previously run horse races.
Attorneys representing Santa Anita say neither the state nor the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) raised any concerns last year after the track provided Attorney General Rob Bonta its legal analysis concluding that the historical racing machines were within California’s parimutuel wagering law. The CHRB approved the three-by-three wager that the games are based on in 2024.
“Neither the Attorney General’s office, nor the CHRB, ever disputed written legal analysis or stated that Santa Anita did not have the legal right to offer the 3X3 wager on concluded races,” the complaint alleges.
The 3×3 exotic bet, or triple trifecta, tasks the bettor with picking the first three finishers for three consecutive races. Offered in $1 denominations, the bet was proposed by The Stronach Group, whose 1/ST Racing owns Santa Anita Park. Stronach petitioned the CHRB for the 3×3 bet on claims that it could help reinvigorate sagging parimutuel action across the state. The 3×3 bet comes with a 22% takeout.
Historical Horse Racing
Critics say historical horse racing (HHR) machines are illegal slot machines, cleverly designed to evade California’s gaming laws that limit traditional slots to tribal casinos. Proponents say HHR games are critical to the future of horse racing, and that the machines are legal because they’re parimutuel-based.
The state DOJ concluded the former, asserting that law enforcement didn’t need a warrant to seize Santa Anita’s racing machines because the racetrack was an “open business with ongoing criminal activity.” In a “notice of intention,” dated January 17, obtained by Thoroughbred Daily News, state DOJ officials reveal that the plan is to destroy the seized HHR machines unless a court intervenes within 30 days.
The destruction of said machines and devices will proceed, unless on or before the expiration of 30 days from the posting hereof, an action is commenced in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover the possession of said machines and devices,” the state notice read.
Santa Anita’s racing machines were developed and manufactured by PariMAX, another subsidiary of The Stronach Group. The track’s lawsuit seeks a court injunction for the planned destruction of the machines and to have the betting games deemed legal.
California Parimutuel Wagering Law
Stronach argued in its Santa Anita complaint against California that the state’s parimutuel wagering law doesn’t require that bets be made only on live or simulcast races.
The Legislature may provide for the regulation of horse races and horse race meetings and wagering on the results,” the California Constitution reads.
California’s Office of Legislative Counsel seemingly agreed in 2006, writing that the state constitution doesn’t require that “races be live or simultaneous to be considered horse races.”
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